John Wong steps back into L.A. County assessor race: Opinion

Technically, it’s to be supposed, the incumbent Los Angeles County assessor, John Noguez, could be a candidate for re-election this coming June.

But as the assessor is currently awaiting trial on a raft of corruption charges related to his obscure, powerful, property-tax determining office, it’s unlikely that a judge would let him run a political campaign. And for once, it’s unlikely that an incumbent county official would win.

Just as in the race for sheriff, what with Lee Baca resigning, that leaves the field for assessor wide open.

But the five people currently getting their campaigns going are not exactly household names, just as Noguez, the former mayor of Huntington Park, was not when he won in 2010. And remember Robert Quon? Of course you don’t. He was the assessor before Noguez.

Our newspaper’s editorial board has questioned the very idea of having an elected assessor. Just how is the average Angeleno voter supposed to decide who is the best person on the ballot to assess the value of real property? It’s nuts.

But so long as there is an elected office, we might as well try to elect the best person to it.

Last time around, thank goodness, this paper did not endorse Noguez, smelling something fishy there. Rather, we endorsed businessman John Wong of Monterey Park, saying: “Because the job of county assessor is a nonpartisan one, a good rule of thumb is keeping politics out of the office ... We believe John Wong is clearly the best candidate for the job of county assessor.”

Actually, Wong is a Republican, but even the L.A. Times endorsed him as well.

Wong is running again for the office in June, and this week I sat down with him for a visit at Blaze Pizza in Pasadena’s Playhouse District. Wong used to own an almond cookie bakery, and a frozen burrito company. But he also has been a Realtor and chair of the county’s Assessment Appeals Board, and knows the business of assessing property inside and out.

What’s your platform, John, I asked him.

“Bringing trust, integrity and transparency back to the office of assessor,” Wong said.

What’s the hardest part about running for the office?

“This race is not sexy like the district attorney or sheriff,” Wong said. “The only reason the people know the assessor’s name is because of the scandal. And the maximum donation we can take is $1,500 from each person, whereas it’s $4,200 for an Assembly race. And this county is as big as like 18 Assembly districts! There are about 2.5 million high-propensity voters, and it would cost $2.5 million to send a mailing to each of them. And I’m not going to raise that kind of money. But last time, I raised just $50,000, and he did over a million, and I got into the runoff with him. So we’re going to try to raise about $500,000. We’ll do slate mailers, and radio time, and newspaper ads.”

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How would you bring integrity back to the office?

“I’ve already assembled a team of retired former deputy assessors who didn’t agree with Noguez, and so they left. I would bring them back in and I wouldn’t have to train them to do what’s right.”

The wrong that Noguez and some others who worked for him are accused of doing is quite simple: Taking kickbacks in order to lower some major commercial and residential property tax bills.

If it’s the current setup of the office is a recipe for wrongdoing, let’s say that Wong, as a successful businessman, is less susceptible than the young and formerly ambitious Noguez, a product of the county’s Corridor of Corruption cities.

“And it’s the most important office in the county!” Wong said. “The only one that affects taxpayers so directly.”

Study up, come that June election. With a sheriff resigned and an assessor indicted, we’ve got at least two important votes to cast to ensure a safer and saner Los Angeles County.

Larry Wilson is a member of the Los Angeles News Group editorial board. larry.wilson@langnews.com.